Will vegetarians outnumber meat eaters in the next decade?

If youd asked me two years ago, my answer would have been in the negative, but weve reached a cultural tipping point when it comes to both vegetarians and vegans, as evidenced by the rate of growth in vegans in the UK – up 700 per cent since 2016.

Trusted public sources are united in their denunciation of meat and animal products in relation to their contribution to harmful emissions, and a plant-based diet is something that I suspect even the most zealous of meat-eaters are now considering.

And while focus on the environment has been particularly intense in the last few months, the health and price benefits of plant-based options are a major factor too.

I suspect that this high rate of growth will only increase. According to Mintel, 56 per cent of us ate vegetarian or meat-free meals in the six months to July 2018, and Waitroses own research found that a third of the population now have meat-free or meat-reduced diets. In my view, these trends will continue to grow at pace. Lets veg out.

NO – Benedict Spence is a freelance writer

There are plenty of things to recommend vegetarianism. It is cheap, for one, and causes less suffering to animals born, raised and slaughtered in nightmarish conditions.

Veganism, its provisional wing, is more difficult to stick to, but is nonetheless gaining in popularity precisely because of the morality surrounding farming livestock.